Author Archives

Lawrence Gostin, JD, is University Professor at Georgetown, Faculty Director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, and Director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Public Health Law & Human Rights.

On December 14, 2018, in a widely reported decision, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional. The judge reasoned that since the ACA’s “individual mandate” is unconstitutional, the rest of the law… Read More ›

Infectious diseases are a constant reality, yet it takes a shock to jolt the public’s attention and spur political action. The past weeks saw such as a shock at busy US airports, with the emergency quarantine of 3 flights. At… Read More ›

On May 8, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of a confirmed outbreak of Ebola in Bikoro, on the shores of Lake Tumba in Équateur Province. Ebola in the DRC is not unexpected. The… Read More ›

Every 30 seconds, someone dies in a road traffic crash, and 10 people are seriously injured. Road traffic mortality is the fifth leading cause of death in the world, resulting in 1.25 million deaths globally in 2013. For young people… Read More ›

The US health system is so mired in politics, with positions hardened by rigid ideologies, that we can’t even seem to talk with one another civilly about difficult tradeoffs. If the polity could agree on core ethical values to guide… Read More ›

On July 7, Tom Price, MD, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced the appointment of Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, as the 17th director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To this position, Dr… Read More ›

If you travel in global health circles, you might see prominent researchers wearing a green bracelet with the inscription “Fogarty International Center: Advancing Science for Global Health.” The reason is that President Trump’s March budget blueprint called for drastic cuts… Read More ›